Having traveled a lot in the past year, we’ve been incredibly surprised to find the ease in which Mayhem’s food allergies can be accommodated.
It’s made eating out fun again.
Sometimes.
Yesterday we were turned away by three separate (sit down, not fast food or fast casual) restaurants who told us they couldn’t (or wouldn’t even try to) fix something “Mayhem safe”.
The most frustrating part is that it’s really not that difficult.
In fact, REAL food is easy. Finding places that serve REAL food however, seems to be the tricky part…
Fortunately, the fourth time was the charm. Real cooked from scratch food, a staff eager to help, AND they happened to be a wine bar too. You better believe we’ll be making a return visit 😉
I can relate. My daughter is allergic to peanuts and we always have to ask, every place we go, every time. I’m so grateful when restaurants are accommodating!
It’s funny, because we had all but given up on eating out because every place we would check around us was not safe for her. Then we started traveling more and having AMAZING dining experiences in other cities. So back at home we’ve decided to give it a try again, but we continually run into a lack of awareness and/or places that care to work with us. And I’m with you, we’re SO grateful when restaurants are eager to accommodate!
My son was diagnosed with several allergies a year ago. Eating out is hard at times. His biggest allergy is Corn. We have found corn syrup or corn starch are is many items we never would have thought of.
Oh I can only imagine the difficulty with corn! Corn syrup is in SO much!!!
My daughter has nut allergies–peanut and tree nut. Anything “manufactured in a facility..” can’t be eaten. We rarely eat out (and in general choose not to), however, we have found that the higher end restaurants are more accommodating. We stayed at the Four Seasons two years ago and not only did they have GF bread for me but an entire menu for my daughter–with desserts! The BEST place to go is Walt Disney World!! The sit-down dinners are to die for, AND the chef brings you out your food quite often. All eyes were on us when our “special” desserts were brought out by the chef himself (they were sky high masterpieces!). It is a stress free trip all around for a mom (and dad) of a child with allergies!!
Could not agree more Kristin! We’re very much the same and have had similar experiences. The higher end restaurants definitely are the ones who have been more accommodating for us and I suppose that lends itself to the “you get what you pay for” line of thinking 😉 I haven’t mentioned it here on the blog, but we stayed at the Park Hyatt on our last trip to NYC and had breakfast one morning at their restaurant, The Back Room at One57, and it was by far, the best restaurant experience we’ve ever had regarding food allergies!!! We asked the hostess before she even seated us if they’d be able to accommodate us and not only did she assure us they would, she immediately entered all of Mayhem’s allergies into their computer system, took a copy to our waiter before he even greeted us and also took a copy immediately to the kitchen. I’ve heard amazing things about the service at Disney World and we may have to give the dining options a chance next time we visit. On our last trip, we stayed off resort in a villa where we had our own kitchen. And as crazy as it may sound, it was so much LESS stressful to simply fix our own meals and not worry about finding safe options for her. But the more we travel, and the more terrific experiences we have, the more I want to have faith that we can still enjoy an occasional meal out.
There are plenty of places in and around Disney as well as the surrounding areas (ie Cocoa Beach/Indian HarbourBeach) who are more than willing to accommodate severe food alergies!
I can vouch for Disney’s willingness to accommodate! I have food allergies that are numerous (though none as severe as Mayhem’s) and usually the question I get is “Well then, what DO you eat??” But every time I’m at a Disney restaurant, the chef personally comes out to discuss my options, and then makes and delivers the food himself. It’s wonderful!
Thanks Carly – that’s awesome to know you’ve had great experiences there too. Now I feel like I need to plan a trip back just to eat! HA! 🙂
What is she poking in the pic lol?
If you’re ever in the Northern Va/DC area I work for a company that is really great at accommodating food allergies and each resturant had it’s own GF menu! Check out Great American Resturants next time you are in town! We would love having you ladies or any ladies with littlest who have allergies 🙂
Nashville will gladly accommodate Mayhem. Maybe you should just move here? 😉
If your having trouble finding places in Cincinnati I recommend Salazar, Revolution Rotisserie, Boca, and Sotto!! I have suffered for years until the Cincinnati restaurant boom. Finally restaurants that truly make from scratch and are willing to meet my needs! Good luck and keep being awesome!
Taking notes!!! Will definitely check some of those out 🙂
I absolutely love your blog! And can totally relate! I am actually a student at UD, so not far from you. I’ve been following the Instagram for some time, but recently read your blog and never realized that Mayhem and I have something major in common! My freshman year, I randomly went into anaphylactic shock after drinking a soy milk that used to be a staple in my diet. I have since been diagnosed with severe Soy and Peanut allergies. I was laughing so hard at your post where you asked people how many items in their pantry had soy in them. Who knew it was so prevalent? I absolutely understand how unbelievably difficult living with allergies is. But for the million times I get frustrated about not getting to eat something, there really is no feeling like the celebration you have when you realize you CAN eat something! You both are seriously amazing people! And the allergies don’t seem to be stopping Mayhem from having such a happy life. Keep it up 🙂
That’s so terrifying! And YES, it was stunning to learn how prevalent soy is … until her allergy was diagnosed, I had no idea.
And you’re absolutely right about the celebration when we find things she CAN have. It definitely becomes a party 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing your story, I’m glad to know she’ll have plenty of support and people she can relate to when it’s something she’ll be responsible for managing!